Future Windows 8.1 update will finally bring back the Start menu

New menu combines classic Start menu look with new Live Tiles.

Enlarge / A Modern app running in a window on the desktop (right), and the new Live Tile-packed Windows 8.1 Start menu that will be available in a future update.

Microsoft

The new Windows 8.1 update coming out next week introduces some features friendly to mouse and keyboard users, but another future update is bringing back the one thing that people have complained about most when it comes to Windows 8: it will introduce a new version of the classic Windows Start menu that combines features from the pre-Windows 8 menu with new Windows 8 concepts like Live Tiles.

We aren't sure exactly when this update will be available, but it's just the latest step back that Microsoft has taken from the original user interface it introduced in Windows 8. Each subsequent update has attempted to retain the Start screen for use on tablets while sneaking in concepts from older versions of Windows to win over an audience very important to Microsoft: businesses with desktop and laptop workstations. These customers typically want new Windows versions to change as little as possible in order to cut down on user education and testing of internal applications.

In addition to the new Start menu, Microsoft also announced that new Universal apps coded to run on phones, tablets, and desktops would be able to run in windows on the desktop, further blurring the lines between the Start screen and the desktop. We know nothing about the timing of either of these updates, but we'll continue to follow the story as it develops.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.